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Writer's pictureKevin Busuttil
Jun 64 min read

The Ultimate 5 Tool Player


The term "5 Tool Player" has been used in baseball for as long as I can remember. It's a dream for any team to find a player that can do everything on the baseball field. Not many players in the game can exhibit all those tools at the highest level successfully. There is, however, a player that not only has been showing those tools, but he's doing it at a very young age.


In the 2019 MLB draft, it was clear that Adley Rutschman was going to go 1st overall and he did just that. The next best player on the board was Bobby Witt Jr., a highly sought after shortstop from Colleyville Heritage High School with the following scouting grades:


Scouting Grades: Hit: 60 | Power: 60 | Run: 60 | Arm: 60 | Field: 60 | Overall: 65


This is how the MLB defines those grades:

Players are graded on a 20-80 scale: 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. When discussing prospects, the most important number is the future overall grade, an all-encompassing number on the 20-80 scale that signifies what each player is projected to ultimately be in the big leagues. A future overall grade of 65 or better is for a player who could develop into a future impact Major Leaguer, perhaps an All-Star-caliber standout.

Not only was Bobby Witt Jr. seen from the high school level as above average in all 5 tools on the scouting grade, but now in 2024, he has shown that he isn't just slightly above average. As I am writing this on June 6th, 2024, Bobby Witt currently ranks as follows via Baseball Savant:


Batting Run Value 19 runs 97th Percentile

Baserunning Run Value 2 runs 99th Percentile

Fielding Run Value 7 Runs 99th Percentile


More Specifically as it pertains to the 5 tools:


xBA 0.337 100th Percentile

xSLG 0.656 99th Percentile

Sprint Speed 30.4 ft/sec 100th Percentile

Fielding Range 10 OAA 100th Percentile

Arm Strength 88.6 MPH 79th Percentile


To put this into perspective, looking at the top 100 players in xwOBA this season, Bobby Witt Jr. ranks 5th in baseball only behind Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, and Marcell Ozuna. Looking down the list of the top 100 in the category, only 6 other players also rank above the 80th percentile in both sprint speed and outs above average.


Those 6 players being: Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jake Myers, Joey Ortiz, Jarren Duran, and Marcus Semien. Of those 6, Gunnar Henderson is the only player ranking even close to Witt in arm strength, in which, he actually beats him with an average speed of 90.1 MPH. However, of the 5 highlighted categories, it is the only one in which Gunnar Henderson bests him. This to say that even the best competition to Witt for a 5 tool face of the league in the Baltimore Orioles shortstop, he still shows to be the more complete player.


At only 23 years of age, it seems impossible to put a ceiling on how good he can become. In 2022, he struggled both at the plate and in the field. His fielding run value was -11 and his batting run value was -5, both among the bottom of the league. In 2023, he took a huge step forward, moving himself all the up to among the best fielders in the league and an above average hitter. Now in 2024, he has stepped up another notch to be in consideration for one of the league's best players.


In 2024, this is the top 10 in total run value thus far:

Rank

Player

Batting RV

BSR RV

Fielding RV

Total RV

1

Soto, Juan

30

-0.65

2.22

31.57

2

Judge, Aaron

28

-0.72

1.26

28.54

3

Witt Jr., Bobby

19

1.85

7.26

28.12

4

Ozuna, Marcell

25

-1.34

0.00

23.66

5

Fry, David

25

-0.88

-1.34

22.78

6

Tucker, Kyle

22

-1.05

1.36

22.31

7

Ramírez, José

23

0.44

-2.18

21.26

8

Harper, Bryce

16

0.76

3.34

20.11

9

Bohm, Alec

21

-0.04

-0.87

20.09

10

Betts, Mookie

22

0.25

-2.66

19.58


Using Fangraphs Batting Leaderboards as well, this is where the Royals shortstop ranks there:


Offensive Rating (Off) 19.7 Ranks 7th

Defensive Rating (Def) 9.4 Ranks 1st

Wins Above Replacement (WAR) 4.0 Ranks T-2nd


ESPN calculates WAR differently and has Witt ranking here:


Wins Above Replacement (WAR) 3.8 Ranks 3rd

Offensive WAR 3.4 Ranks 3rd

Defensive WAR 0.8 Ranks T-9th


We can look at a million different metrics until we're all blue in the face, but I think we all see the pattern. Some perspectives may value his hitting more, others may value his fielding or baserunning more, but he has barely ranked outside of the top 5 in all of the measures we've looked at here.


Putting aside his individual performance for a second, we may also see the Kansas City Royals make the playoffs for the first time since 2015 when they won it all. The Royals 36-26 gives them the 4th best record in the AL and the 6th best record in the MLB. This comes a year after being the 2nd worst team in baseball. They currently wouldn't be where they are without their rising star in Bobby Witt Jr., and luckily for them, he is locked down for 11 years and $288 million dollars.


Sources





Full Run Value Data Set



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